In 2017, The US Government “Lost” $2.2 Million—Every Single Minute

Illustrating the gluttonous nature and disturbing spending habits of the empire that is the United States, the US Treasury released its financial report from 2017 showing that the government lost $1.2 TRILLION dollars in 2017.

Yes, that is TRILLION, with a ‘t’.

The Goldman Sachs insider who was appointed as the Secretary of the Treasury, Steven Mnuchin celebrated the report, noting that he was “pleased to present the Financial Report of the United State Government,” which showed a loss of $1.2 trillion.

After the opening message celebrating their utter incompetence in managing a budget, the report goes on to note how the US government spent a trillion more dollars than they had. This loss of money will ensure that future generations will be forever burdened with the impossible task of paying back the debt to the Federal Reserve.

The Government’s gross costs of $4.6 trillion, less $431.9 billion in revenues earned for goods and services provided to the public (e.g., Medicare premiums, national park entry fees, and postal service fees), plus $356.5 billion in net losses from changes in assumptions (e.g., interest rates, inflation, disability claims rates) yields the Government’s net cost of $4.5 trillion, an increase of $128.8 billion or 2.9 percent over FY 2016. Deducting $3.4 trillion in tax and other revenues, with some adjustment for unmatched transactions and balances, results in a “bottom line” net operating cost of $1.2 trillion for FY 2017, (an increase of $105.0 billion or 10.0percent) over FY 2016.

To put this into perspective, the US government lost five times more money than the entire Mexican economy. The loss of $1.2 trillion equates to losing $2,283,105.02 every single minute of 2017—or, $38,051.75 a second.

In 2017, the United States lost over $3 billion every single day and somehow these people think this is sustainable.

What’s so ominous about this loss is the fact that in 2017, the US government took in a record high $3.3 trillion in taxes and they still managed to lose $1.2 trillion.

As Mnuchin points out in the opening statement, the United States experienced amazing growth, consumer and business confidence are at two-decade highs, and inflation is low and stable. Yet still, they lost $1.2 trillion!

Imagine for a moment what that loss would look like in a recession, or a financial crisis.

As Simon Black points out in an article on Sovereign Man, “If the government loses $1.2 trillion in a GOOD year, how much do you think they’ll lose in a BAD year? How much will they lose when they actually do have a recession to fight? Or another war. Or a major banking crisis?

“More importantly, how long can something so unsustainable possibly last?”

The answer to that question is, not long.

The national debt is a ticking time bomb. As indicated in their own report, the US government calculated its net worth and the result is mind-boggling.

On their balance sheet, the feds calculated the value of every aircraft carrier, tank, missile, building, national park, government vehicle, all the cash in the bank, all of its property, and then subtracted how much money it owes to the central bank. All the government’s assets, minus what it owes to the bankers equals negative $20.4 TRILLION.

As Black notes, it gets worse:

And according to the government’s own calculations (on page 58), the “total present value of future expenditures in excess of future revenue” for Social Security and Medicare is MINUS $49 TRILLION. Essentially this means that the two largest and most important pension and healthcare programs in the United States are insolvent by nearly $50 trillion. Altogether, the government is in the red by almost $70 trillion.

What’s more, no one in the mainstream media is reporting on this. Everyone is simply riding the runaway train acting like everything will be just fine.

It is also important to point out that in spite of record profits by the world’s largest banks, these same banks are predicting a major stock market collapse. What will happen then, when the US government has to bail out Wall Street again?

The government is a black hole of spending and debt and the citizens are on the hook for it.

While the outlook may seem bleak, however, those who pay attention and plan for the worst while hoping for the best will use this an opportunity to flourish.

As former Congressman Ron Paul recently said in regard to the inevitable, “I think our stature in the world and our empire will end, and that’s when, hopefully, the doors will be open and [people will] say, ‘Hey, maybe these libertarians have some answers to this.’”